Healthcare, Page 7 Category

If you are a healthcare provider and have a mobile application that deals with protected health information (PHI), then your app would have to be HIPAA compliant.

Well, collecting information does not require you to be compliant, but sharing the information requires you to be.

So, if you are planning to craft a healthcare mobile application that involves PHI, make sure that it is a HIPAA app.

A HIPPA-compliant application refers to a software solution that meets the standards set by the US Health & Human Services, A HIPAA compliant mobile app ensures that the user data you hold is secured.

Most entities in Healthcare IT Services that collect and share patient information are concerned about HIPAA since non-compliance can turn out to be a costly affair.

Hospitals & companies violating HIPAA compliance attract a heavy fine that could even run into millions of dollars – there have been several instances of hospitals being levied a heavy penalty for data breaches.

 If you are planning to develop a HIPPA-compliant healthcare app, you should first evaluate what levels of HIPAA compliance you need. This will depend on the PHI (data) you hold and the amount of the data you are sharing. The lesser the sharing, the lesser the compliance.

 If you are getting the app developed through a healthcare application development company, then the app development company should be informed about HIPAA right in the development stage because they have to work on privacy & security rules.

 The cost of developing a HIPAA compliant app generally depends on factors like

For a small-sized covered entity (covered entity: doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, clinics, etc.), the HIPAA compliant app development cost would be somewhere around: $4,000 to $12,000. This cost includes Risk Management & Management Plan, Remediation, and Training & Development Policy.

For a medium or large-scale covered entity, the cost of building a HIPAA compliant app would be approximately $50,000 or more. This cost includes Remediation, Risk Analysis & Management Plan, Penetration Testing, Training, and Policy Development & Vulnerability Scans.

If the app development cost seems way too higher, the other option available is resorting to a cloud service provider, which is already HIPAA-compliant.

When choosing a cloud-based service provider, you need to check if that service provider will minimize the risk of data breaches, and whether the service provider is ready to serve you.

Although the costs of developing a mobile application that is HIPAA-compliant seem higher, it is always better to be on the safer side and avoid paying large penalties. These compliance errors are apparently too costly to be made.

The penalties for security breaches are heavy due to the nature of the data that is being dealt with. Patient information is very sensitive in nature as it contains their medical history. In 2017, IBM & Ponemon conducted research that gave away some interesting facts.

They found out that on average, a single data breach costs $380 per record, which is 250% more than the data breach across other industries around the globe.

A HIPAA compliant app is trusted by patients as such an app keeps their information private & secure. If you would like to develop a new-era HIPAA compliant app for your medical facility, reach out to Biz4Solutions, a prominent mobile app development companythat specializes in healthcare app development. We are having a rich experience of 12+ years in tailoring highly customized HIPAA compliant healthcare apps/solutions for our global clientele.

“The global telemedicine market was valued to be 40 Billion USD in the year 2019. By the year 2026, it is expected to grow exponentially and cross 175 Billion USD”

These statistics forecasted by Statista, a renowned market research and statistics portal, indicate the soaring scope of the telemedicine apps and similar other healthcare IT services. The transformations that these digital advancements have brought in the healthcare domain are revolutionary. Especially in today’s unprecedented times of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown situations, these solutions are all the more in demand. No wonder why several hospitals, healthcare providers, and even individual practitioners are looking forward to developing customized telemedicine apps and software solutions

If you too are here for a comprehensive knowledge of telemedicine app development like a doctor-on-demand app, this blog is for you. We have outlined the vital details required in the development process. Let’s delve into details.

Telemedicine apps, also known as telehealth apps are the tools used for the delivery of healthcare services by the providers to the patients, usually from remote locations. These healthcare apps use new-age technologies to ensure relentless communication between both parties and bridge the gap between them. These facilitate the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of the patients without the need to be physically present at the hospital or clinic. Thus, the telemedicine apps are widely being used for remote medical assistance as people are increasingly drawn towards such advanced technologies to monitor their well-being.

Healthcare organizations or individual care providers deliver various services to the patients. Based on the services, these apps can be categorized as

Patients get instant access to all kinds of healthcare specialists without the need to travel to their clinics or hospitals as they can consult the doctor through the app itself using video/audio calls and one to one chats. Minor health issues like fever or cold can be addressed immediately using video calls and also patients can get ePrescriptions through the app. All the records are saved digitally and there isn’t the need to maintain the paper records. These apps provide them authorized permission to text the doctor and enable healthier conversations. They can easily and conveniently access these apps from any device sitting at the very comfort of their homes. It lowers the cost of traveling and saves efforts, thereby ensuring better satisfaction.

Using these telemedicine solutions, care providers can simultaneously treat more patients. It enables extensive patient reach. They can remotely monitor the discharged patients’ health. These apps offer them the freedom to better manage their work leading to fewer missed appointments or cancellations. Also, these apps enhance the collaboration with colleagues on patient cases. Saved medical documents, integration with EHRs or EMRs, etc. help the doctors to monitor the patients efficiently, ensure better patient engagement, and improve decision-making.

For architecting a successful telemedicine app, it is crucial to have at least the basic features in the app. So whether you decide to go with an MVP model or want a fully functional app with advanced features, we have listed important features accordingly.

While building telemedicine applications, you may face several challenges like language barriers where patients cannot communicate their health conditions correctly. Also, there could be other challenges in making the apps HIPAA complaint, implementation of UI/UX, backend integration, etc. The development team may even face some challenges while considering the scalability of the apps.

To mitigate the above challenges, businesses should consult healthcare app development companies for developing robust, secure and scalable telehealth apps.

For a decade or so, telemedicine app development has gained traction and has turned out to be a lucrative investment for healthcare companies and other hospital bodies. It not only ensures better hospital management, but also contributes to enriching patient experience. It also offers a competitive edge over other top players in the market.

For any other queries, mail us at sales.enquiry@biz4solutions.com !